Super strong winds resulted in many cancellations. Nationally it was the lowest total of runners since December 2022 with no parkruns in Wales and only one in SW England. Locally Dunstable Downs understandably had to cancel on the exposed hill, whereas at Wendover Woods, you could luckily only feel the wind and rain near the edge of the wood. There were only 17 members who braved the storm, of which 11 were at Wendover Woods. The last time we had a lower TRC turnout was in August 2016, presumably for Summer holidays.
Mary Ward was the furthest travelled in the UK with a trip to Harrogate but internationally, Hermione was easily our ‘furthest travelled’ with her visit to Whangarei parkrun on the North Island, New Zealand finishing in a time of 24:26, exactly the same time as she did this time last year! The course takes you along the river estuary and across two bridges both of which can open during the run if the tide is high to let boats out of the basin. Runners sometimes must stop until the bridge is closed again, which luckily wasn’t a problem for Hermione this week.
Most aesthetically pleasing time goes to Emma Adcock with her matching 27:27 at Coventry.
Hopefully the weather will be back to normal next week!
So where are the “F’s” that we’ve run at most? This week’s answers are Finsbury Park (where Ros Cranston used to be an RD), Forest of Dean (thanks to John Manning) and Fell Foot in the Lake District. Next we move on to “G”, there is a clue in this week’s write-up for one of them and you’re looking towards London for the other two.
If you haven’t planned your Christmas morning yet, then 25th December is our next TRC parkrun at Gadebridge. Christmas parkruns have become a popular feature of many people’s Christmas Day, so if you’re coming along remember something Christmassy – Santa Hat, Christmas jumper, tinsel etc.
Looking ahead to 2025, our January run is on 18th January at the popular Rushmere parkrun – which will also be the 1st round of the club Off Road Championship.
Andy Evans